I was lucky enough to go to the Freddie Gibbs concert in Melbourne earlier this year. You could tell from the get-go why he has cemented a place at the forefront of the ‘gangsta rap’ scene. His hard hitting, no bullshit style backed with well known anthems such as ‘Thuggin’ and ‘Boxframe Cadillac’ giving him a repertoire comparable to very few but the stalwarts of the subgenre.

While Gibbs is certainly at home in his domain, the recent release of a track by metal band King entitled ‘Tied to the Whipping Post’, featuring none other than Gangsta Gibbs, caught many off guard. While it is by no means the first time that hip-hop and metal have collided forces, it’s just hard to imagine the Indiana rapper side by side with a metal band. In an interview with Fader magazine, Gibbs cited his reasons for the surprising collab; “I’m a versatile artist and I love to challenge myself artistically. Making a song with a metal band from Flint is an example of that versatility. You can’t put me in a box.”

You shouldn’t expect Gibbs to be taking the form of a metal band frontman or screaming in this track, but the combination of the two different but yet complimentary styles is refreshing. Listen to the track in the gallery above.

Luke Karakas.

[Via.]

More Freddie Gibbs:

Watch: Freddie Gibbs – ‘Pronto’
Listen: Freddie Gibbs & Kaytranada – ‘My Dope House’
Freddie Gibbs shot at after show in Brooklyn